[Bug 285040] Mk/bsd.port.mk: expansion of INDEX to include flavor setting (impacted by portsnap)

https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=285040

            Bug ID: 285040
           Summary: Mk/bsd.port.mk: expansion of INDEX to include flavor
                    setting (impacted by portsnap)
           Product: Ports & Packages
           Version: Latest
          Hardware: Any
                OS: Any
            Status: New
          Severity: Affects Many People
          Priority: ---
         Component: Individual Port(s)
          Assignee: ports-bugs@FreeBSD.org
          Reporter: freebsd@marino.st

Created attachment 257937
  --> https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/attachment.cgi?id=257937&action=edit
Appends flavor column to end of INDEX

I recently brought up a proposal to extend the number of columns in the
index[1].  The referenced post explains the rationale and the benefit of doing
so, but essentially when flavors were introduced into FreeBSD ports, a new
column should have been added to the index to list the flavor used on the
package.  The patch to accomplish this is simple and attached.

However, back in 2011 there was another request[2] to expand the index to add
license information and it was revealed that the portsnap index maker would
break if the index is expanded.  A consumer of the index should not put
restrictions on the index's future evolution, but that is the situation here. 
I've checked the src tree (portsnap home for FreeBSD release 13 and earlier)
and the ports tree, and it seems like the proposed fix for portsnap's index
maker (to ignore any columns after the 13th column) was never done.

Due to the importance and prevalence of portsnap, no expansion of the index can
occur until the ports-mgmt/portsnap is modified and FreeBSD 13 is EOL.

I propose that the restriction portsnap's index generator is causing be removed
soon.  I think the attached patch could be modified such that the index remains
the same on FreeBSD release 13.x and that index includes the flavor column on
FreeBSD 14 and later, thus preventing any breakage to portsnap.  The wiki page
on the INDEX would also need to be updated[3].

The original bug report [2] also proposed changes to Mk/bsd.port.subdir.mk and
Tools/make_index files.  I'm not sure at this time if similar changes are need
for this proposal.

What do people think?
John

[1] https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-ports/2025-February/007347.html
[2] https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=159946
[3]
https://wiki.freebsd.org/Ports/INDEX#:~:text=An%20index%20file%20can%20either,by%20the%20make%20describe%20command

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